MR J.B. WHYTE. M.H.R., ON THE GOVERNMENT RAILWAYS BILL.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 2414, 29 December 1887, Page 2

MR J.B. WHYTE. M.H.R., ON THE GOVERNMENT RAIL WAYS BILL.

(Hansaiui.) I INTESP to support tills lliil, r*l J .-vents in its second reading, bec-au-i* I think that it holds out a slight hope of mi l !:' itinl lii.of the most prominent of the mils e 01 necled with our system «-f representative government. We :n- ,11 aware that representative government has many def-cU in its working, and 1 fancy that hitherto our railways have supplied glaring illustration »f at least one of these d-r-cts. Th-v have shown it not only as regards their management, hut also as reg,rd- their t n struclion ; and, in the management, not only as regards the rates, hot also-is regards the officials and employes generally. Perhaps it may h-said that dealing with the matter of construction now i> someth ng like locking the stable door after the leu--has been stolen ; but, nevertheless, it ibetter late than never. There is no doui-t in my mind that if the pre-ent system of management were continued our railways would, in time, become a great pob'iea) engine, if, indeed, they have not become -■ already. 1 am glad t-> -ay they have not yet become so to so great an extent as they had in Victoria before the present system of management there was established. The late Minister of Public Works has told us how bad the Victorian system had grown, and what a mass of cormption and mismanagement it was. I am glad to say that, S'• far, here, that has not been the ci-e. But. I think prevention is Is-tter than cure; and this Bill holds out a hojio of affording the required prevention, otherwise I fear that in course of time mir railways would be manned from end to end by political agitators; for. if yon give employment in any grade on the railways, be it high nr low, through political influence, of course the men recommenced by politicians would probably be chosen, not on their merits on railway-work, but on their merits as political agitators and street-corner politicians. In my district the question of railway management was really the burning question of the late election ; and I dare say that this will lie readily understood when 1 siy that it averages about a hundred miles from a port, so the question of freight is continually coming up and agitating the public mind very much; indeed, the state of feeling in regard to railway management is not sufficiently described as one of dissatisfaction—it almost nm-imts to one of exasperation. I cannot illustrate that more forcibly than by saying that tin House and the country nearly lost my valuable services through this very question as ' I was considered hi lie not quite energetic enough and radical ii(kiii it. The Minister for Public Works lias alluded hj; Mr Yaile’s system ; and, whatever may be the merits of that system, in my district the belief in it almost amounts to a religion, and very many clear and hard-beaded men believe in it; and, although, I regret to say I have never been able to see my way to sup|<ort it in its entirety, still there r.re certain lines m Mr Yaile’s policy of which I approve, and that are capable of being productive of good results. It must, however, he manifest to all that a change is required ; and also, that it is absolutely necessary that some policy' as to working our mil ways should be indicated by the House in this bill, to guide the Commissioners; and speaking generally, I believe that the encouragement of production and settlement should be the object aimed at in working mir railways, rather than the raising of revenue only. Of course, the getting ot revenue must also be considered ; and in the present state of the country’s finances, it perhapmay be admitted that we could not afford l>. receive a less total than at present from the railways. Still, I think proilnctionaud settlement should also be duly regarded, otherwise country districts a- !• oig distance from ports will become depopu! ,ted instead of peopled. I also think some difference should be made in the direction of ftvmiring the longer distances by a graduated scale of charges, or in some other way. This is. however, not the time to go fully into the details of any policy. All I wish to |ioint out at present in that respect is thata i ml icy should certainly he laid down by Parliament for the guidance of the Commissioners in the Bill, and, as far as possible, it should go in the direction of encouraging production and settlement. I know I shall he told by honourable members who represent districts that have no railways that this would be unfair to them. And no doubt to some extent it would be unfair to them ; but I dare say the House will be surprised to hear that the proportion of the population in the colony that is not served by railways is only' about 11 per cent., and that percentage is decreasing every day. (Inly a-b-.ut 11 per cent, of the total population do not directly reap some benefit from onr railways ; and in many cases these people hawhad assistance in the way of harbour a-ul other works in their districts, and theref re '.he position is not so unequal as it at first appears. It must be remembered also that even they will reap great benefit from an improvement in the management of mu raiways, because, if settlement and production be encouraged, that must mean increasing the number of onr population, and decreasing thereby the average burden that presses upon the general mass of the people. In speaking of the past management of the railways*, 1 must say, m fairness to those who have been responsible for it, that they have been very much handicapped by there having been no definite imlicy at all laid down for their guidance. Un the one hand they have been told to make the railways pay, while on the other hand, they have been subjected to very unequal political pressure to reduce rates. In some districts political pressure lias been strong in one direction ; and in other districts there has been pressure in another direction not equally strong, and therefore it lues prevailed in some places and not in others. But even when political pressure has prevailed in getting what might lie a perfectly proper reduction in one district, as soon as it has been made there has been an outcry'of unfairness from the others. As the late Minister for Public Works said, the same redntii in has then been insisted on all over the colony, and consequently a great loss hi the revenue has ensued. Siwaking generally as to the policy on which the railways should lie worker!, I will just say that f think tho-e who use the lines for the longer distances should be favoured as much as possible—that is to say', people travelling or sending goods one hundred miles or so should be allowed to pay a less rate per mile than those who only use the railways for a distance of say ten miles. That is the principle which regulates wholesale and retail trade, and I believe it is perfectly sound on commercial principles. 1 also think that the fares should not be so high as to be an absolute bar to yienple travelling, and that no one should he prevented from going about the country, to look for work or otherwise, by high railway-fares; but, to iqeet that difficulty', I would only lower the fares for the second class, while those who wished to be select, or wanted comfort and plenty of room to sprawl over the cushions and take their ease, should be made to pay lor tt. In my journeys throughout my district and other districts in the colony I have found that a very great part of the existing dissatisfaction—nine-tenths of it, I believe —is caused by the high charges upon small consignments, and by the extreme uncertainty as to what the charges will be. No one seems to know with certainty what they will have to pay; they have found by experience that they have been charged 10s one day and 13s the next for the same article. Of course, the departmental officers tell us that should not be, and that it is owing to the mi-takes or carelessness of officers, and that these things should be complained of, and they would Ik put right. That is all very well, no doubt; but, though possibly complaints might be made and grievances redressed after a lot of trouble had been taken, yet many people do not care about being compelled to bike that course. There are many j«o|de who have a strong objection to complaining, or even to writing a letter, and many of such people, to my own knowledge, have baponje so irritated and angry at the mismanagement and overcharges by which they have suffered that they have ceased to use the railways at all, except when they could pot possibly help it. With regard to >{r Vaile’s scheme, of which we have tieard -a> mqch ope uf the principal reasons why. though sympathising with the object in view, 1 could not entirely approve of it was that it seemed to mo to begin at the wr->ng end, by dealing with |ussoiigers’ fares instead of with freights. It seems to n.e that the question of freights is of much more importance than the question of the fares of passengers. It is true that Mr Vaile says that he can apply his system to freights equally as well, and perhaps he cm, but he has not done so yet. Therefore at pie-out we can only consider his qyskum qs applied to paasmi&ut *;, res. And, moreover, it appearTtiiat the prospect of lowering freights is contingent with him upon the financial success of his scheme asapplied to passenger fares. He ex|>ects to make £*200.000 a year pioro than at present by means of his system of passenger fares, and with that money he would be able to reduce the freights by cue-

third. Tti-i earning* in r.-1-xl V. freights am nut at pr<— ul. I b-ii--.to about £‘iOO.OOO a year; and by means of this inlOO.btthc evjaects to h- .dee to reduce freights gen-rally by one-third. However, i- ' n •: i-eivincel that this scheme would prove a financial success. I, as one ot di-Commilt- e ap|e>inted to c-m-ider the ■ o .v.-r, <• aiM ..n!y agree to give ita trial in some part of the colony on the condition tint ita- ili-liu t in which it was tried should be re-;»oi-ib!e fo r any d-doo-nre |., the revenue that might accrue. We fared that if his system weie tried generally, without any such restrictions as that, it would result in a large d. t:ci UcV, which would, of cour-e, have to Is,- made up by txlia taxation. I desire to siy, however, that this is only mr individual opinion; and that, on the other hand, there aie many practical m-n in my di-trict and - !s‘ \vl](-ie who cordially approve of Mr Vaile’, prois-sals. 1 de-iie also to -ay that -uch a hold has this -v-tem taken upon the public mind in the Province of Auckland that nothing bnl a •air tni] of its merits will set the question a* rest. llf this tb-re Ins been ample evidence: and the agitation in its favour will, I think, ii-n-i cea-e until a trial is accorded to ii, and I tru-t the B-evrd will see tbeir way to grant one. Meanwhile 1 should like to e freights redur- l. particularly with refen nc- to articles of export. I think that . those things should Is- cairied at c i-t price. The question <-( different! d rating and special rating has la-s-n referred to by previous speakers. Now. any one who ha* considered the subject must admit that differential rating is an ab-eluto necessity if we an: to get any revenue from our railwavs. If we do not tike into consideration such thing- as cheapness of w oiking in some localities as compared with others, and the conqietitioii there is with the railways in certain places, we shall find the trains, especially near the huge towns, running empty. Now, I wish to say a word as to to the Victorian Railway Board, about which we have heard so mucli. As I have said. I intend to vote for the second reading of this Bill; but I do not exjs-ct anything like the benefits to ensue from it which we are told have ensued in Victoria. I emphasise “ we are told,’’ because I have heard very varying accounts of the working of the B uni in Victoria. At any rate, supposing jt p, t>- a success there to a large extent, it does not follow that it would he equally so here. The circumstance- are entirely different. There the railways lorni one sv't.-ni, radiating from one centre. and. generally Si*eikuig, all running inland ; wh'-ie-s hj 10 w t - have the Whangareii* iv of I-) mis sy-leio, the Auckland -vsteu. the Napier, and the Wellington and Koxtoii systems in the North Island. latheSaith Island also we have pieces of scattered railways on the We-I Coast, the Pictm, Nelson, and Hurunui Bluff systems, each of these particular systems requiring separate stiffs and surplus plant; and moreover, (hey have, in many cases, to c inqsite with watercamage either by sea or river. Therefore we cannot possibly hope to have Hie same results fr.-m tba adoption of this sell--me as ha< b,-n secured in Victoria. Another tiling ms t-i lie hot sight of also, and it is this; that tie; rat— in Victoria —I have had occasion to l . 'k inti this rather closely lately—are. on the average, higher than they are in New Zealand. N-ov, I ho|ie and most sincerely tmst that the rates here are not going to Is; r.iio,-:l, b rc-m-e, if so, the people •if the country districts, situated at the longer distances from a port, will not be able to live at all. We hear a good deal about protection, but if any class in the country require protection just now it is the small struggling settlers, and I venture Pi -ay that protection Pi them would benefit the colony m >re genera'ly than any protective duties on impute. We have been told that local conditions should not lie considered. I say it is absolutely necessary to pay attention P. l.ical conditions. [ freely admit it would be very difficult for any I hivernnuiaf Pi introduce special rates, Is.-cau-e they would be at once accused of favouritism, and there would be great dissatisfaction. We have seen it attempted to a smail extent already, and it is always said that it is done to suit this or that person, and that it is di ne Pi benefit Auckland or Canterbury, or whatever plott kha Minister of Public Works comes from. This, I think, would net ocerir with a nonpolitical Board. lamglid pi see that the pre-ent double system of constructing railways and managing tiieoi, by separate department- - , is Pi be atnli-hed. and that With are Pi be put in (lie hands of one body. I think anyone who has paid anv attention pi the working of these departments must know well that "the dual system has u<it work'd well—that one party is always undoing what the other has done. lam glad to see th it feature in the Bill. 1 think It is a very imp -rt-iut. one. And also, as to the matter of construction of future railways, I am sure that if the proposal contained in this li:i! had been in ton-; bj th * |ia-t we should have saved a good deal of money. Certainly some of what are known as political railways would not have been built. 1 notice a prop --a 1 to maintain a system of acc unit k- eping as UAween the Railway the Post il and Telegraph Depart, meats. I wish, theref-re, to throw out tire suggestion that I think it i. unnecessary, and that the railways should, as a matter of course, carry the. mails for the Postal 11-,-pertinent, and do tile telegraphing without any accouut-kcqiiag. it would not affect the general revenue, though it might result in the department oeiiig credited with moneys which did not priqierly belong Pi it. But we have got rid of that sort of thing in connection with the stanqis duties. And although we do not know exactly where the revenue comes from, I do not know that that matters very mucli. I also wish Pi say that I agree with the system of insurance, and think that a man should be forced to make some little provi-ion to meet the requirements of his family ia the event of his being injured, killed, or discharged. There is another •question that I should say a word up in, and that is as to damages. 1 think that when this question is being dealt with there sh-olltl •w a little reciprocity—that, if individuals tre to lie liable for d imaging the railways, the colony should be re-sp.liable to individuals ii’lui are injured by the railways. I am certain that »oiiie of our farmers will he mined sooner or !aP:r by fires created by Hie railways, and I think that thatiovernment should be unde cleat ly liable for this sort of thing. There -seats to he no clear law on the subject just now. Sometimes persons suffering loss by these fires gain actions, sometime- they 10,-e them; but I understand that the Covernmcct always plead non-liability. 1 think that, as damages have Pi be paid Pi the (government in certain cases, the (Jovemment should also be liable ia such cases. I regret that owing Pi the hour for adjournment being so near, I have had to curtail my remarks U]wn this subject, which is of .-uch vital ■■ii|sirtauce to the country di-tricks. I shall therefore simply conclude by saying that I shall supjeirt this Bill at present; but I do not bind myself ti vole fur tt when it conies out of Committee, because I think it is capable oi a great deal of improvement, and it will be time enough for me to deride what I shall finally do when it comes out of Committee. My ir.aiu reason for voting for it now is that it holds out a hope of at least lessening one of the evils of our reiresentative sy-lem of government. Honourable iiitfinWrs need only refer to the Ulster Paper of this and lost session hi see hoar the present evil is growing and ia likely to go on griming, until our railway system v i’l become little better than a field of jjoli, tical intrigue and ]iatroiiage. I’u,- that riM-on I support the second rending of the Bill, and I>eg to congratulate the Minister for Public Works on his efforts Pi improve the cxi 'tiug -stat-A of things and to provide ironse in the future.